Hay-carrier



(No Model.)

- W. E. PU-LLMER.

HAY CARRIER.

Patented June 30, 1891.v

Y UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIS E. FULLMER, OF ROUND GROVE, ILLINOIS.

`mY-CARRIER.

SPECIFICATION kforming part of Letters Patent No. 454,860, dated June30,1891.

Application filed January 14, 1891. Serial No. 377,741.

To @ZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, WILLIS EMMET FULL- MER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Round Grove, in the county of lhiteside'and State ofIllinois, have-invented certain new and useful Improvements inHay-Carriers;

and I do declare the following to be a full, clear,

and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters andiigures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in hay-carriers in which the framewhich carries the hay-fork is adapted to traverse a track or rope and toautomatically release and drop the fork to be loaded and toautomatically Vengage and sustain the fork while in transit and untilits return for reloading.- I

The Objectsof my improvements are, first, to provide a frame ortrolley'adapted in the ordinary mode to be drawn to and from the pointover the load; second, to afford facilities for holding the carrierstationary above the load while the fork is being loaded with hay anduntil it shall have been elevated and engaged by the carrier; third, toprovide means by which the engagement of the fork in the carrier willcause the carrier to be disengaged from the iixed point aforesaid in p0-sition to be drawn to the place of discharging the hay, and, fourth, toprovide means to antomatieally trip the hook which suspends the forkafter the latter has been returned to a position to be reloaded. Iattain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure lis aperspective of the mechanism involved inmy invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section in the line ocx of Fig.l. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section.

Similar letters refer to si milar parts throughout the several views..

The frame A of the machine is constructed of the two upper horizontalparallel plates l, the two lower substantially horizontal par` allelplates 2, and the two front parallel plates 3 and the two rear parallelplates 4. The lower ends of thev plates 3 and 4; are respect- (Nomodel.)

ivelyattached at their lower ends to the ends of the plates 2, andVrising divergently therefrom attached at their upper ends, respect-Vively, to the end of the plates l, as shown. One series-of plates l, 2,3, and 4 constitutes one side of the frame A, and the other series ofsaid four plates constitutes the other side of the said frame. The twosides aforesaid are joined at their corners by transverse bolts 5, therebeing a slight interval between each of said series of plates for theinsertion between said series of the mechanism hereinafter described.

The trolley-wheels G thavegrooved peripheries, and are pivoted upontransverse bolts 5 at the upper corners of the frame A and adapted totraverse either the ordinary track or a suitable-sized cable or wire,and thereby transport the frame A with its adjunetive parts. The lowerplates 2 are bent centrally outward somewhat, so as to afford room forthe upward projection between them of the hay-fork support 7 whichlatter is provided at its lower end with hook S, and thus adapted toreceive any-of the well-known types of hayforks. The fork-support 7 isprovided with lthe usual pulley 9, and the draft-rope l0 is attached inthe usual way to the front lower corner of the frame A and passed underthe pulley Qand up over a suitable pulley ll, pivoted on the bolt 5 atthe inner lower corner of the frame A. From thence the rope l0descends-in the usual way in position for attachment of the team. y'Ihearm 12 is pivoted at its upper end between the plates l, and dependingtherefrom is provided at its lower end with the hook 13, open toward thefront of the machine. The fork-bearer? has two upward parallelprojections 14 a slight interval apart and joined at their upper ends bya transverse bolt or rivet 15.

A front guide-crook 16 and rear guidecrook 17 are suitably fastened tothe frame A and projected above the opening aforesaid between the plates2 in position to guide the upper end of the fork-support 7 in its.upward movement toward the open end of t-he hook 13.

Each of the crooks 16 and 17 are made out of a strip of metal bentsubstantially V- shaped with one end secured 4to the hori- TOO zontalportion of the frame and the other end secured to the Vertical portieri.One arm of each of the crooks is preferably curved, so that by arrangingthe pieces with the curves adjacent to or facing each rother upon eachside of the frame the opening or passage for the fork-support is verywide at the mouth for the ready entry of the support, while the curvedarms will guide it to the hook 13 at the contracted portion,where itwill be retained until it is released by suitable mechanism. l Y

The normal position of the arm 12 is with the point of the hook 13against the rear surface of the guide 16,being held in such position bythe coiled spring 18, suitably attached to said arm at its pivotal seatand one of the plates 1.

In Fig. 1 the parts are shown in the position which they occupy when thefork-bearer 7 has been raised into position by the draft upon the rope10 and just before the carrier starts bythe further draft upon said ropeinto the barn or to the place where the hay is to bc deposited. It alsorepresents the position of the parts after the carrier has returnedempty for a new load and just before the forksupport 7, bearing the hayfork, is dropped in the position for the reloading of the fork.

It will be understood that the hay-fork su pport 7 is not dropped at thetime of the discharge of the hay, but that such discharge is effected bymechanism connected with the fork, while the latter is suspended uponthe hook 8, and the only time the fork 7 and its suspended fork descendsis when the carrier is over the load and said parts descend to the wagonfor the reloading of the fork. The horizontal arm 19 is pivoted at itsinner end to the arm 12 a short distance below the pivotal seat of thelatter and projects outward between the plates 3 a short distance beyondthe frame A, and the outer end of the arm 19 is pivotally connected tothe upper end of the descending arm 20, the lower end of which ispivotally seated between the plates A stationary trip and lock block 21is attached to the outer end of the track 22 in such relation to' theposition to be occupied by the wagon that when the frame A is drawn inthe usual way by the operator on the load through arope connection withthe frame A to thelimit of the outward movement of said frame thejunction of the arms 19 and 2O strikes against the block 21, and therebyforces the lower end of the arm 12 backward between the guides 17, whichlatter push the bolt 15 off from the hook 13 and permits thefork-support 7 and fork to descend to the load of hay. A latch 23 ispivoied at its outer portion between said plates 3 and projects outwardin position to have its outer end engage the block 21 from below whenthe carrier is at the limit of its outward movement, and thereby holdsaid carrier rigidly during the process of loading and raising the hay.-

fork. The center of gravity of the latch 23 is within its pivotal seat,and its inner end projects past the arm 12 and is crooked downwardly, sothat its lower extremity at said inner end when engaging the block 21rests in the space alongside of the hook 13 occupied by the transversebolt 15 when the latter is at the limit of its upward movement.Therefore as the fork-support 7 is raised its upper end engages andmoves upward the inner end of the latch 23 coincidently with beingengaged by the hook 13. This movement disengages and holds disengagedthe outer end of said latch from the block 21, and further draft uponthe rope 10 serves to drag the carrier to and over the locality wherethe hay is to be discharged. After the discharge of the hay the carrieris drawn, as aforesaid, again outward. The outer end of the arm 19,striking block 21, disengages the fork-support 7 from the hook 13, and'thereby permits the inner end of the latch 23 to drop by its own gravityin position to enable the outer end thereof to engage the block 21 andhold the carrier stationary during the process of loading and elevatingthe fork, when the maximum elevation of the fork-support 7, effectedthrough the rope 10, will, by elevating the inner end of the latch 23,disengage the latter from block 21 and permit the inner transit of thecarrier bearing the loaded fork.

The advantages of my invention are its simplicity, strength, durability,and its ease and certainty of action. The parts are all riveted orbolted together to preclude misplacement, and the machine can be usedeither upon a fixed track in the barn or upon a suitable cable suspendedin proper relation to the stack.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States. is

1. In a hay-carrier, the combination, with a frame consisting of twoseries of plates joined at their corners by bolts, each seriescomprising an upper and a lower horizontal and a front and a rearvertical plate, all riveted together at their ends, the lower horizontalplates each being bent outwardly at its center, of trolley-wheels at theupper corners and a hook suspended in the frame, front and rearguide-crooks secured to the frame, each consisting of a substantially-V-shaped piece of metal, one arm of which is horizontal and secured at itsend to the inner side of one of the vertical diverging plates and theother arm is curved and secured to the inner side of one of the lowerhorizontal plates, the curved portions of the guides being arrangedadjacent to the hook, whereby, with the outwardly-curved horizontalplates, a diverging walled opening is formed for the reception of thefork-support, said support being provided with two parallel upwardprojections adapted to engage with the curved guides and having atransverse bolt at their IOO IIO

upper ends to engage with the hook, and

- means for releasing the frame and the support, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a hay-carrier, the combination, with a. frame, of 2t hooksuspended within the frame, :t track for the frame provided with a stop,an arm pivotally secured to the frame at its lower e'nd and having itsupper end adapted to engage with the stop, a connection between the armand the hook, whereby the hook is moved by the movement of the arm, anda tripping-lever pivotally secured to the

